


Shadow owes its birth to light

by Arithanas



Category: Anne with an E (TV)
Genre: Gen, Trick or Treat: Treat
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-31
Updated: 2018-10-31
Packaged: 2019-08-05 03:41:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 536
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16360061
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Arithanas/pseuds/Arithanas
Summary: Marilla woke up to discover Anne was not in her bed.





	Shadow owes its birth to light

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Mimm](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mimm/gifts).



Marilla turned in her hard, narrow bed. The wind raged outside, driving half-formed snowflakes against the whitewashed walls of Green Gables. The window panes—despite Matthew’s due diligence last October—danced inside their frames.

Marilla sat in the dark, and groped around her beddings in search of her thick shawl. She heard the shutters clatter violently against the building, barely hanging on. The shingles were not all so lucky, several were torn free and crashed to the ground. She didn't bother to fetch a candle. In a hurry, Marilla abandoned her bed. As she stood shivering in her slippers, there was only one thought on her troubled mind: This was the first winter the girl had spent with them, and, while she’s past the fear of having this old house falling down on her head, the noise was enough to frighten her young, susceptible mind.

With care, Marilla made her way through the house and pushed open the door of the little room. If she could avoid rousing Anne, that would be better for everyone. She approached the bed, peering through the shadows, hoping to see Anne lying among the blankets.

Marilla reached out and touched the bed. The chill from the linens seemed to run up her fingers, through her chest, and form into a knot in her throat. A cold pillow on top of a colder mattress meant that Anne hadn’t been in her bed for some time now…

Her thoughts turned to ice as fear wrapped its claws around her heart. Marilla patted the bed, making sure her senses weren’t deceiving her. Her foot touched Anne’s slippers, barely visible under her bed. Marilla felt her hair fall around her face, sticking to her sweating temples, but that should have been impossible; it should have been standing on end as fright seized every part of her body.

Hundred, no, thousands of chilling scenarios ran through Marilla’s normally sensible head. A young girl, without her slippers, on a night like this…

“Ma… Marilla,” called a voice.

Marilla gasped and turned around, putting a hand to her throat. Anne stood bathed in the silver light of the moon that slanted across the floor. Her white nightgown billowed around her naked legs for a second. Her red hair, still tousled from sleeping, looked almost blonde.

And she was shivering…

“Anne Shirley-Cuthbert!” Marilla snapped out of her fright. Her fears were chased away by a maternal instinct she didn’t know she had. “What are you doing there?”

“I woke up,” Anne tried to explain as Marilla bundled her up in her thick shawl. “You were soundly sleeping, so I went to see that Matthew has enough blankets.”

“You have the cold of the grave on you, child,” Marilla said, steering the girl back to bed.

“That’s the most romantic thing I have ever heard you say, Marilla,” Anne said, smiling widely. She was already starting to warm up. 

Youth is wasted on the young. Marilla kissed unkempt tufts of Anne's short red hair. At the moment, the only important thing was to keep her safe and warm.

Tomorrow was soon enough to rebuke Anne for wandering the house barely dressed.

Tomorrow, Marilla could laugh at her own foolishness.

**Author's Note:**

> Beta work kindly provided by Karios.


End file.
